The Puzzle of us
by puuurpleprincess95
Summary: Mark and Lexie slowly begin to put the puzzle of them back together. This is a redo of the original fic which kept downloading the wrong document even though I had it saved correctly.
1. Long Night

So this is kinda like my other finale fic, but it is strictly Mark/Lexie centric.

Each chapter will have a song that goes with it, but this isn't really a Songfic.

This first song is Long Night by the Corrs.

I don't own anything.

….

It had been eight days since the shooting. Eight days since Lexie had told Alex she loved him when she had thought he was dying. For a split second, she did love him, but almost right after she said it, she didn't love him anymore. But she felt like she needed to stay with Alex, he had been shot and the person he had been calling for when he was on death's door would probably never see him again. She was all he had left and she couldn't leave him alone now.

"Lexie?" Alex asked stirring in his hospital bed.

"Yeah, Alex?" She asked tiredly. She had been spending her nights when she wasn't on call in his room.

"Can you get me a drink of water?" He asked pointing at the cup and pitcher that he could've gotten himself.

"Yeah." She said pouring him a drink and handing it to him.

"Thanks." He said gulping it down. "Hey, Lexie. I'm kinda hungry. Could you go get me some potato chips from the vending machine?" He asked flashing her the very familiar puppy dog face.

"Yeah, sure." She said smiling at him and standing up.

She walked down to the vending machine and when she pressed the button nothing happened. Normally she would've calmly just gone to the one, but she was tired and sick of feeling unappreciated and still feeling like she needed to chose, but felt obligated to choose one man.

She kicked the vending machine is frustration, the quickly went to the bathroom where she quickly locked the door and fell to the floor in sobs, but this time she was alone. No one was there to comfort her.

When she was finally done sobbing, she went to the sink and got rid of all evidence of sobbing then walked to the other vending machine and back to Alex's room.

"What took you so long? I'm starving here!" He said teasingly.

"Shut up and eat the damn chips." She said tossing them to him and trying to sound lighthearted.

"Yes, ma'am." He said opening the bag and shoving a chip in his mouth and chewing with his mouth open purposefully in front her. "I'm eatin the damn chips." Alex said smirking at her.

"Give me one." She said reaching over.

"They're mine!" He said laughing and pulling them towards him.

"I paid for them." She argued crossing her arms across her chest.

"Fine, whatever." He said handing her one.

"Thank you." She said annoyed, but, unsurprisingly, Alex didn't catch it.

After he finished eating, he decided that he wanted to go sleep.

After he fell asleep Lexie snuck off to one of the on call rooms to try and get some much needed rest, but she couldn't fall asleep. It was just another long night spent alone.

_It doesn't really matter now you're gone  
You never were around that much to speak of  
Didn't think that I could live without you, baby  
It couldn't be that hard to live alone_

But I'm all, all alone again  
Thinking you will never say  
that you'll be home again

And it's gonna be a long night  
And it's gonna be cold without your arms  
And I`m gonna get stage fright caught  
in the headlights  
It's gonna be a long night  
And I know I'm gonna lose this fight

Once upon a time we fell in love  
And I thought that I would be the only one

But now I'm on, I'm on my own again  
Thinking you will never show  
you won't be home again

And it's gonna be a long night  
And it's gonna be cold without your arms  
And I`m gonna get stage fright caught  
in the headlights  
It's gonna be a long night  
And I know I'm gonna lose this fight

Lost in you arms baby  
Lost in your arms

Now I'm on my own again  
Thinking you will never show  
you won't be home again

And it's gonna be a long night  
And it's gonna be cold without your arms  
And I`m gonna get stage fright caught  
in the headlights  
It's gonna be a long night  
And I know I'm gonna lose this fight  
I'm gonna get stage fright caught in the headlights

It's gonna be a long night  
And I know I'm gonna lose this fight  
I'm lost in your arms baby  
Lost in your arms

Mark Sloan was lying awake in bed with three empty bottles of beer beside him. He knew it sounded strange, but there was one part of the shooting he had enjoyed. Right before they had found Karev and Lexie was in his arms for the first time in months and the hour that she held his hand while they waited for news on Alex before she left his hand and went to Karev's.

He wanted to believe and he hoped that she hadn't made a choice between them.

She couldn't have because it wasn't normal circumstances.

But he knew that if, that _**if**_ killed him, Lexie wanted to get back together with him, it wouldn't be until Alex had recovered. Mark knew Lexie too well. She would feel obligated to help him get better. She always wanted to help people; she always went above and beyond on a personal level with patients. Normally, he loved this about her, but this time it would most likely kill him.

He was about to open his fourth bottle when his phone rang.

"I'm cutting you off." Derek said.

"What?" Mark asked playing with the bottle.

"I'm guessing you're about to open… What? Your fourth beer?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well… No." He said guiltily.

"Yeah. Mark, put the beer down and go to bed."

"Fine. Derek, you know me way too well. It's creepy." Mark said putting the beer on his bedside table and getting up to turn off the light.

"And that is why I'm your best friend." Derek said laughing. "Now get some sleep. I'll know if you get another beer. Goodnight, Mark." After Derek hung up the phone, Mark could feel the silence that had overtaken the apartment since Lexie left. It would be his fault if she chose Karev. He tried to move on, he wouldn't talk to her, and when he finally realized that it was impossible for him to stop being in love with her, she had moved on. He hoped it just wasn't permanent.

He climbed back into bed, but couldn't sleep. It was just another long night spent alone.


	2. Whatever It Takes

Thanks to bowengirl, jlamb13, and ILUVGREYS-101 for the great reviews.

The song is Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse and I know it is about people staying together

I don't own anything.

….

Mark never meant to look at that box again, but he missed her so much that he pulled it out of his closet.

He had put this box in his closet after Lexie broke up with him and always knew where it was.

This box contained photos, videos, notes that they had written each other when they didn't have a chance to see each other, and it also contained one smaller black box.

He slowly read all the notes, photos, watched all the videos, which mainly consisted of him following her around with the camera and they usually ended with her laughing. Her paused on her smiling face on the last one as he slowly opened the small black box.

As soon as he did, he felt the tears begin to fall. He had bought it around Christmas. It had been a gift to himself. A promise to himself, a promise that confirmed what he already knew, a promise that Lexie was the one. He wasn't planning on giving it to her right away, he just wanted to have it, so that when the right time came, he would have it.

He held it in his hands as his phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered still holding it in his hand.

"Dr. Sloan, I'm sorry to bug you on your night off, but we found a donor for Mr. Jones." Mr. Jones was a patient who needed a new face and had come to the hospital after reading an article on the face transplant that Mark had done.

"Okay, I'll be there in five minutes." He said before hanging up.

He gently put the ring back in its box and then put everything else back in the big box before leaving his apartment.

As he walked across the street, he knew one thing: He was going to do whatever it took to get her back.

_A strangled smile fell from your face  
It kills me that I hurt you this way  
The worst part is that I didn't even know  
Now there's a million reasons for you to go  
But if you can find a reason to stay_

I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know that I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
Believe that I can change  
I'll keep us together whatever it takes

She said "If we're gonna make this work  
You gotta let me inside even though it hurts  
Don't hide the broken parts that I need to see"  
She said "Like it or not it's the way it's gotta be  
You gotta love yourself if you can ever love me"

I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know that I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
And give me a break  
I'll keep us together, I know you deserve much better

But remember the time I told you the way that I felt  
That I'd be lost without you and never find myself  
Let's hold onto each other above everything else  
Start over, start over

I'll do whatever it takes  
To turn this around  
I know what's at stake  
I know I've let you down  
And if you give me a chance  
and believe that I can change  
I'll keep us together whatever it takes

"Shit." Alex said as he dropped his glass of water on the floor.

"I'll get it." Lexie said grabbing some paper towels ad bending down to wipe it up.

"Lexipedia, stop."

"It's fine. I'm done with everything else, so if someone needs me, they'll page me."

"Lexie! Just stop! I'm not a duck!" He said exasperated.

"A what? Alex, would you be a duck?" She asked confused as she stood up.

"Not a real duck." He said, but she just looked confused. "I pretended to be a duck, because I figured I'd eventually become one, but I haven't."

It took her a second, but then she got it. "And so now you wanna break up?" She asked.

"Well, um, yeah." He said looking at her.

"Okay." She said. "Alex, can you do one thing for me?"

"Depends what it is." He said sitting up a little further.

"Become a duck again." She said handing him his phone.

Before he could say anything she got a page.

"I have to go." She said smiling at him before leaving.

The page was for a face transplant patient. That meant she would be on Mark's service. Now that things with Alex were done, she was free to do the one thing that she wanted to do.

Now she was free to do whatever it took to get Mark back and that was exactly what she intended to do.


	3. Used To

Thanks to AiLing and princessamantha for the great reviews.

The song is Used To by Daughtry. It's perfect for the way they are right now and everyone just wanted them to go back to the couple we all know and love.

I don't own anything.

….

"All right, Mr. Jones. You look good. We should be able to take you into surgery within the hour." Lexie said after checking Mr. Jones's vitals again. It didn't surprise her that Mr. Jones had requested Lexie be Mark's intern for the case. And since Mr. Jones was a wealthy businessman making a large donation to the Seattle Grace Mercy West Plastics Department, Dr. Webber, who was acting as interim chief, although there were rumors that it would turn permanent, had honored that request.

"Hey, Dad, Mom said that she just picked up Anna and Riley and they should be here before your surgery." Mr. Jones's fifteen year old daughter Kelsey said from the couch.

"Okay, thanks sweetheart." Mr. Jones said.

Mark entered the room.

"The donor is about to go under. You ready to get a new face, Mr. Jones?" He asked smiling.

"Definitely." He said chucking.

"Ummm, Dr. Sloan? When you fix my dad's face he isn't gonna look like you or anything because that'd be creepy?" Kelsey asked looking up from her phone.

Lexie began to giggle and tried to keep her head down.

Mark looked at Lexie and then answered Kelsey. "No, the underlying bone structure will shape your dad's face, so he will look like your dad."

"Okay, good." She said laughing before leaning back on the couch.

"Dr. Grey, can I see you for a minute?" Mark asked looking at Lexie.

"Yeah, sure." She said following him out of the room.

"You remember how this surgery goes?" He asked.

"Yeah, I remember." She said smiling at him.

"What?" He asked amused.

"Just, what Kelsey said. It was funny." She replied.

"What? That my face is creepy?"

"No, that it'd be creepy if her dad looked like you."

"And how do I look?" He asked flirty.

"Mark!" Lexie exclaimed and playfully slapped his arm.

"Hey, they call me McSteamy for a reason." He replied smiling.

For a minute they stood smiling before Mark broke the silence, "Lex-" He began before being interrupted by Mr. Jones's twin four year old girls running past them into the room.

"Go check on the donor." He said softly before walking back into the room.

…...

Two hours later they were an hour and a half into Mr. Jones's surgery and about to put his new face on.

"Okay, you take the right side, I'll take the left." Mark said. As he and Lexie began to put his face on they remembered the last time they had done this. When they were beautiful.

But there was something about putting the face on. They were in perfect sync, one being. For that brief moment they both forgot that they had ever broken up.

They had both begun to smile and for a minute their eyes met before they awkwardly looked away.

They both wished so much that they could just go back to the way they used to be.

_You used to talk to me like  
I was the only one around.  
You used to lean on me like  
The only other choice was falling down.  
You used to walk with me like  
We had nowhere we needed to go,  
Nice and slow, to no place in particular._

We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought.  
We used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I used to reach for you when  
I got lost along the way.  
I used to listen.  
You always had just the right thing to say.  
I used to follow you.  
Never really cared where we would go,  
Fast or slow, to anywhere at all.

We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought.  
We used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I look around me,  
And I want you to be there  
'Cause I miss the things that we shared.  
Look around you.  
It's empty, and you're sad  
'Cause you miss the love that we had.

You used to talk to me like  
I was the only one around,  
The only one around.

To how it used to be. We used to have this figured out;  
We used to breathe without a doubt.  
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see.  
We used to have this under control.  
We never thought.  
We used to know.  
At least there's you, and at least there's me.  
Can we get this back?  
Can we get this back to how it used to be? Yeah.  
To how it used to be.  
To how it used to be, yeah.  
To how it used to be.  


"Lexie." Mark said turning to face her as they stood in the scrub room.

"Yeah?" She asked still washing her hands.

"I'm tired of waiting. You have to choose. Karev or me."

"Mark…" She said softly.

"You're choosing him? I get that he's hurt, but I'm in love with you!"

"No, Mark, I… I'm not. No." She said frustrated. "Alex dumped me."

"So what? I'm just leftovers?" He asked raising his voice.

"What? No! God, Mark ! I was happy about it! He did exactly what I wanted to!"

"Then why didn't you do it?"

"Seriously, Mark? He was shot, he needed someone there! He was there for me when you weren't, so the least I could do was return the favor!"

"You dumped me and then jumped into bed with Karev! Because I wanted to be responsible with my own daughter!"

"Mark ! I am 25 years old! I'm not ready for that! I was drunk and heartbroken and when I'm heartbroken I need lots and lots of sex. You weren't there, so I had to resort to Alex!" She said frustratedly before leaving the scrub room.

Mark watched the door close behind her. Things always had to get worse before they got better, right?_  
_


	4. You are the Reason

Thanks to AiLing for the great review.

So, this is not my original idea, but I decided I liked this one better, so I hope you like it.

The song is You are the Reason by Celine Dion.

….

Mark Sloan tiredly opened his apartment door. He had just finished Mr. Jones's post op and everything looked perfect. He knew he should have been happier. The plastics department just got 15 million dollars and he could now do more experimental procedures and work on his own equipment.

He knew he should have been happier, but his fight with Lexie kept ringing in his ears. He had made an assumption and that assumption had been wrong, then he overreacted and now he was scared that he had just ruined his chance at getting Lexie back.

He tossed his keys on the couch and made his way towards the fridge to get a beer.

But what he saw on the counter stopped him in his tracks.

Black lace panties and a toothbrush were lying on the counter.

He began to smile. He hoped it meant what he thought it didn't.

"Callie let me in. I hope that's okay." Lexie said tentatively as she walked towards him.

"It's perfect." He said softly as he turned around. He couldn't believe it. He, Mark Sloan, was practically speechless.

"I'm still in love with you. I tried, really tried to move on. But I couldn't and I didn't really want to. I know that we've been through a lot, but I love you so, so much and I want to be with you."

In seconds his lips were crashing into hers.

_I figured it out  
I was high and low and everything in between  
I was wicked and wild, baby, you know what I mean  
Till there was you, yeah, you_

Something went wrong  
I made a deal with the devil for an empty I.O.U.  
Been to hell and back, but an angel was looking through  
It was you, yeah, you  
It's all because of you

You are the reason  
You are the reason I wake up every day  
And sleep through the night  
You are the reason, the reason

In the middle of the night  
I'm going down 'cause I adore you  
I want to floor you

I'm giving it up  
No more running around spinning my wheel  
You came out of my dream and made it real  
I know what I feel  
It's you  
It's all because of you

You are the reason  
You are the reason I wake up every day  
And sleep through the night  
You are the reason, the reason

In the middle of the night  
I'm going down 'cause I want you  
I want to touch you  
I want to floor you  
You are the reason, baby

You are the reason  
You are the reason I wake up every day  
And sleep through the night  
You are the reason, the reason

After they two finally pulled away, they stood for a second with their foreheads pressed together. Mark suddenly picked her up.

"Mark! What are you doing? Put me down!" Lexie said frantically clutching his arm.

"Relax, I'm not gonna drop you." He said kissing the top of her forehead before dropping her on the couch and then running off towards the bedroom.

"Mark? What are you doing?" Lexie asked laughing.

A few seconds later he came back out and came to sit beside her.

"What was that?" She asked laughing.

"This." Mark said before he silently took the small black box out of his pocket and opened it.

"I…. I… Uh… Mark, what…." Lexie asked speechless.

"Lexie, I love you. I've been in love with you every second of every day since I met you. I know that you aren't ready for all the things I want, but the thing is… The thing is I tried to move on with someone who was age appropriate and wanted the same things I did, but what I realized is that I don't want all those things unless they're with you. And I know that you're not ready for marriage or kids or anything like that, but I know that one day, maybe not for a few years, I don't really know, I will marry you. So, I'm asking you to marry me." He said looking at her.

Lexie gently kissed him and pulled away with the soft smile on her face that he loved so much.

"So is that a yes?" He asked tentatively.

"Of course it is." She replied smiling as he put the ring on her finger.


	5. In Your Arms

Thanks to for the great review.

This is about a week or two after the last chapter.

I don't own anything.

….

Lexie Grey woke up with her pager going off. She had slept in an on call room because Mark had an early morning surgery and she was in the pit starting at 8 am sharp, so it would just be easier for her to sleep there.

She rolled out of bed and quickly put her dyed back brunette hair up in a ponytail before leaving the room. She didn't feel very good, but she figured it would just pass. Nothing to worry about.

She walked into the pit and after hearing that there was currently no incoming trauma, sat down and starting stitching up someone who was waiting.

"Hey, Lexipedia-" Christina said walking up behind her and then stopping. "Come with me right now." She said grabbing her arm.

"I have a patient." She said sitting back down.

"Two, can you finish up here?" Christina asked Steve who was standing nearby.

Christina led Lexie over to an empty bed. "Sit." She commanded.

"Why? I'm fine." Lexie said sitting down. But she wasn't fine, everything hurt, her head was pounding, her throat was scratchy, and she felt like she would barf any second.

"You're not fine. You were shaking, you're skin is practically translucent, and your eyes are bloodshot." She placed a cold hand on Lexie's forehead. "And you're burning up."

"I'm fine." Lexie insisted sitting up. But she proceeded to throw up all over Christina's shoes.

"No, you're not." She said closing the curtain around Lexie.

Lexie heard Christina say to the nearest nurse. "Make sure Dr. Grey doesn't leave.

…

Several minutes later Meredith opened the curtain. She saw Lexie trying to stick an IV in her own arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked snatching the IV from her little sister.

"I'm fine. I can just give myself something, then I'll be good to go." She said reaching for it.

"No." Meredith said putting it away. "Open." She said holding a thermometer in front of her sister's face.

"Mer…" Lexie said pushing it away.

"Lexie, open." Meredith said. After Lexie obliged Meredith stuck it in her mouth.

About thirty seconds later when it began beeping Meredith pulled it out at looked at it.

"102? God Lexie." She muttered before turning to the nearest nurse. "Dr. Sloan's surgery should be done by now. Can you get him and tell him that Little Grey needs him?"

The nurse nodded and Meredith closed the curtain again and turned back to her sister.

"You're telling on me?" Lexie asked,

"I'm not telling on you, I'm just informing Mark that you're sick and he needs to take you home."

"Same thing." Lexie muttered.

"Now lie down." Meredith said pretending not to hear her.

…

Mark Sloan quickly opened the curtain. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Meredith stood up. "She has a 102 fever, Christina said she was shaking, she barfed all over Christina's shoes, and she refuses to tell me what hurts. I gave her some antibiotics, but you just need to take her home. Ride it out." She said. "Behave." She said to Lexie before turning to leave.

"Hey…" Mark said coming to sit beside her and stroking her hair.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

Mark closed the curtain and held up her left hand. "See that ring on your finger? That means I'm madly in love with you and am going to marry you. It also means I know when you're lying. It's okay, Lex. Just tell me what hurts." He said gently placing his hand on her side.

"My head and my throat and I feel like I'm about to throw up and… Everything hurts, Mark… Everything." She said looking up at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Does this hurt?" He asked kissing her forehead. She shook her head. "Does this hurt?" He asked kissing her cheek. She shook her head again. He then kissed her on the lips. "Does this hurt?" He asked looking down at her.

"No." She said with a slight smile.

"Good." He said smiling down at her and kissing her again "Now let's get you home." He said helping her sit up. When he did, a rush of pain came over her. He, of course, noticed.

"I have a better idea." He said picking her up. She leaned her head against his chest and placed both of her hands on it as well.

"Better?" He asked as he began to walk towards the hospital exit.

"Better." She replied softly. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out all noises except for Mark's heart beat and his voice softly speaking to her.

…

About five minutes later they were back in the apartment.

"Let's get you out of these." He said sitting her on the bathroom counter and beginning to peel off her scrubs. Before he could finish she ended up throwing up in the toilet.

"I… I'm sorry." She said softly before flushing the toilet. She began to cry.

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay." He said helping her rinse her mouth out and then let her quickly brush her teeth.

He took off the rest of her clothes and led her into the shower.

She leaned against him as he washed her hair and got the stench of vomit off of her body while still wearing his scrubs.

After he was done, he wrapped her in a towel, tossed his own wet clothes in the sink and wrapped a towel around his own waist.

He gently sat her down on the bed and took out her favorite one of his shirts. He dressed her and then tucked her in before putting on a T-shirt and a pair of boxers and crawling into bed beside her.

"Mark, what if I'm contagious?" She asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Then I get sick." He replied kissing her temple. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said softly before drifting off to sleep in the safest place in the whole world. Mark's arms.


	6. Tears of an Angel

I forgot to put this in the last chapter. Thanks to AiLing and annamason23 for the great reviews on chapter 4. And thanks to AiLing for the great review on chapter five.

I have also decided to stop putting lyrics in the chapters so if you want to know about the song or the lyrics or something, just leave a review or message me.

The song is Tears of an Angel. Kinda from Mark's POV and how he watches Lexie fall apart after she deals with a tragedy.

About two months after the last chapter.

I don't own anything.

….

"And so then Bailey handed me the scalpel and I did the whole kidney transplant." Izzie said before eating a large forkful of salad. She had come back about three weeks ago. She and Alex had gotten remarried ten days after she came back. She and Lexie had become best friends since she had come back. Meredith claimed she always knew that they would since they were both bright and shiny.

"And I'm guessing you didn't kill the guy." Lexie finished. They were currently sitting with Christina, Alex, and Meredith.

"Would she have told us if she killed the guy?" Christina said.

"Oh, come on. That's not fair." Alex said. It was his second day back at work since the shooting and he was enjoying everything minute of it.

"The last time she was on a kidney transplant she killed the woman." Christina pointed out.

Izzie opened her mouth to retort before she was interrupted by Derek coming over.

"Little Grey, your dad's in the pit." He said.

"What? Is he okay?" She asked standing up.

"He's in critical condition. He was in a car crash." Derek said waiting for her to move.

"Was he… Was he drunk?" She asked softly blinking away the tears that had begun to form.

"No." Derek replied looking at her.

"Come on, Lex." Izzie said standing up and holding out a hand. Meredith also stood up and did the same.

Lexie clutched their hands and they began to follow Derek to the pit.

When they got there she saw a trauma room full of doctors rushing around to keep her father alive.

"Daddy." She whispered as her eyes began to fill with tears. Izzie and Meredith tried to comfort, but in that moment she didn't need her best friend or her sister. She needed Mark.

She let go of their hands and walked into the trauma room.

"Grey. You really should leave." Owen said looking up.

"She can stay. She won't be in the way." Bailey replied glancing at the younger Grey as Lexie began to walk towards her father's head.

"Hi, sweetie." Her father said smiling weakly at her.

"You're going to fine." She said placing a hand on his cheek. "You're going to fine. Do you hear me Daddy? You aren't going to die on me. You CAN'T die on me because I love you so, so much."

"Dr. Grey, we need to get your father into surgery, now. Stevens, scrub in." Owen said glancing up.

"Okay." She said softly before leaning down to kiss her father's cheek. "See you soon." She said softly smiling down at him.

After they took her father out, she stood in the trauma room alone staring at the puddle of her father's blood on the floor.

"Lexie." Meredith said softly from where she and Derek were standing in the doorway.

"I need to call Molly." She said numbly taking out her cell phone.

"I know. Come on. Let's go sit down." Meredith said leading her sister towards the waiting room.

….

Mark Sloan had just finished his surgery. He was scrubbing out when he saw who came into the OR.

"Mr. Grey?" He said upon seeing Lexie's father lying on a gurney. He quickly grabbed a scrub mask and went in.

"Mark." Thatcher Grey said as he was quickly prepped for surgery. "I might die. I know that. Promise me that you'll take care of Lexie."

"Mr. Grey…" Mark said softly.

"Just promise. Molly, she's… She's tough. She'll be okay. And Meredith… Meredith probably won't even cry." He said chuckling. "But Lexie… If I die it will break her. She'll shut down. So, promise me." He said.

"I promise." Mark said watching Thatcher Grey smile before the anesthesiologist put the mask over his face.

….

"Lex…" He said walking towards her in the waiting room. She was sitting silently in a chair staring into space with silent tears falling down her cheek.

He sat down next to her and gently rubbed her back. "Hunt and Bailey and Stevens are going to do everything they can to save your father." He said.

She looked up at him covered in tears. "What if that's not enough?" She whispered.

Before Mark could reply Meredith came over. "Molly just called. She just got on a flight. She should be here in a couple of hours."

"Okay." Lexie said softly as Meredith said she would be right back before walking away again.

She leaned her head against Mark's shoulder and could feel his hands gently stroking her hair. She could feel her eye lids get very heavy. She was suddenly very tired and within minutes sleep overtook her body.

…

"Hey, Lexie. Wake up." She heard Mark's soft voice in her ear.

Lexie opened her eyes and looked up to see Molly standing in front of her with Laura in her arms.

"Hey." She said looking at her younger sister.

"Lex, is Dad gonna die?" Molly asked shifting Laura on her hip.

"I don't know, Mol." She said softly.

Molly sat down next to Lexie with Laura in her lap.

The three adults sat in silence. The only sound was Laura playing with her stuffed animal and happily talking to herself

…..

About an hour later Hunt, Bailey, and Izzie walked out. By now Meredith and Derek had joined Mark, Lexie, Molly, and Laura.

Lexie frantically searched their faces. Hunt and Bailey had straight faces, but she could read Izzie and saw the look on her face. She tried to convince herself that she was just imagining it.

"Your father's heart stopped during surgery. We were able to bring it back, but his brain wasn't getting oxygen…" Owen began to say.

Lexie looked around. She couldn't breathe. It felt like her chest and throat were closing up. It felt as though the room was closing in around her. She could feel Mark trying to comfort her.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?" Molly asked confused.

"He's brain dead." Meredith said softly.

"Would you like to see him?" Izzie asked slowly stepping forward.

Lexie and Molly just wordlessly nodded and slowly stood up.

…

Several hours later they had come to the decision to unplug him.

They all sat in Thatcher Grey's hospital room. Molly clutched her father's hand as Laura had her head resting on his arm. Lexie was sitting beside her father's head with a hand on his cheek and Mark was standing behind her with her other hand in his.

Meredith was about to unplug him when she stopped. "I can't do it. I mean he wasn't my dad; he was just the guy who poured my cereal in the morning. Someone else should do it."

"He'd want you to do it." Lexie said looking up at her. "You saved his life. He'd want you to be the one to end it."

"Okay." Meredith said softly. Derek wrapped his arms around her waist as she shakily raised a hand and did it.

Within seconds a high pitched beeping filled the room. Mark reached up and turned off the monitor.

Molly began to sob, but Lexie just sat there silent, not crying, not anything, just sitting and staring at her dead father. Mark placed his hands on her shoulders. This is exactly what Thatcher warned him would happen.

Meredith whispered, "He's dead." And then did something no one expected. She began to cry.

….

A week later Mark opened the door to Meredith's house. He sat Lexie down on the couch. She was wearing his sweatpants and his oversized sweatshirt. She looked like a ghost.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Mark asked kissing her forehead. He knew he couldn't get an answer. He walked into Meredith's kitchen where Derek, Meredith, Alex, and Izzie were currently eating breakfast.

"How is she?" Izzie asked looking up at Mark.

"Same." He said sitting down.

"It'll get better." Derek said looking at his friend and handing him a mug of coffee.

"She hasn't slept in a week, she hasn't talked in a week, she hasn't done anything in a week. I have to feed her, bathe her, brush her teeth, her hair, help her use the damn toilet. She hasn't even cried, not even at the funeral. I'm so scared. She's fading, she's pushing me away. She's shutting down." He said worriedly.

"It's just grief, she'll get past it." Izzie said leaning against the counter.

"When Denny died you baked. You DID something. She doesn't do anything. This isn't grief! This is the love of my life turning into a damn ghost!" He yelled throwing the coffee cup to the ground.

"Mark, just relax. After my dad died I locked myself in my room for a week and lived off of potato chips. Everyone has their own ways of dealing with grief. You need to be there to help her grieve." Derek said.

"I am! I'm there every damn second! She wants me to give up on her! I can see it in her eyes, but I can't! I won't! But she can't live like this! She deserves better than this!"

"Mark, just give her some time. After my dad died-" He started before Mark interrupted him.

"Don't you get it, Derek? This is different! Both of her parents are dead!"

"Both of Mer's parents are dead." Alex pointed out.

"This is different." Meredith and Izzie said at the same time.

While this was happening Christina walked into Meredith's house.

"Mer!" She called out. Meredith didn't reply and she could hear Mark shouting. She looked to the couch to see Lexie sitting.

"Lexipedia." Christina said coming to sit next to her. "There's a club. A dead dads club and you aren't in it, until you're in it. I'm really sorry you're in it." When Lexie didn't reply she continued. "I joined the club when I was nine. Car crash. He died while we were waiting for the ambulance. Derek joined the club when he was twelve. George is… was in the club. I know that you're also in a different club. I don't know what it's like, no one we know really does, but you can't just shut down. This can't be the end of your story. Your dad wouldn't what that. Your mom wouldn't want that. They'd want you to be happy, live your life." She said looking at her. After Lexie didn't reply she stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Seconds later, Derek walked towards her. "Come on, Little Grey." He said grabbing her hand and leading her out to his car.

…..

About ten minutes later they pulled up at his land. He helped her out of his car. He linked her arm in his and began to walk with her.

"You already know about my dad and you're probably sick of all this when my dad died stuff. I know that this is different. I can't imagine how you're feeling. Both of your parents are dead. You're technically an orphan. And I know that must be hard and devastating, but you have to open up, you have to feel or you'll end up dead too. And you don't want that, your parents don't want that, no one wants that. You have to face all that pain head on or you'll lose yourself. And if that happens it will break Meredith and Mark and I can't let that happen. You need to let us in. You have to talk to Izzie or Meredith or Mark. Especially Mark. It took him a long time to find someone and he only has one someone, you. Don't push him away. Let him in. Cry on his shoulder. Yell in frustration in front of him. Talk to him. Let him comfort you, hold you. Because what you have, it's rare. You only get it once in a lifetime. Don't throw it all away." He said. After this he brought her to the trailer and told her about the plans for the land.

A little while later a car pulled up. Mark slowly got out. Lexie got up and ran towards him.

"I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I just… They're dead. Gone." She said as he pulled her into a tight hug and she finally began to cry.


	7. Smile

Thanks to mcbitchy28 and AiLing for the great reviews.

The song is Smile by Uncle Kracker. It completely describes how they are when they're together.

This is about two months past the last chapter and just so I'm not confusing anyone, including myself it is now early October.

Reviews make me smile. Okay, that was unbelievably cheesy, but I couldn't resist.

I don't own anything.

….

"Come on, Lexie. Just let go." Mark said laughing. They, Meredith, Derek, Owen, Christina, Callie, and Arizona were all at the ice skating rink. It had been decided that they all needed to relax and they had already done the baseball thing. And Derek decided it would be fun to rent out the entire rink. Alex and Izzie were supposed to be joining them soon.

"No!" Lexie yelled clinging to the wall. The last time she had been ice skating she was 8 and had broken her arm. She watched their friends skate past, none of them fell, but she just knew she would.

"Please, sweetheart. For me." He said flashing her a puppy dog face.

"What if I fall?" She asked her eyes wide.

"You won't." He said holding out a hand.

"How do you know?" She asked nervously twisting her engagement ring around her finger.

"I won't let you fall."

"Promise." She said still clinging to the wall. Even though she was terrified, she looked adorable.

"Promise?" He said laughing. "Lex, do you trust me?"

"You know I do. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, if you trust me." He said sliding an arm around her waist, gently taking her hands off of the wall, and wrapping his around them. "You don't need me to promise because you know that I will never, ever let you fall."

"I trust you." She said smiling softly.

"Good." He said smiling before kissing her and beginning to skate around the ice a good three feet away from the wall.

By the third time around, Lexie had gotten more comfortable and was now skating on her own with their hands locked.

Mark couldn't help but smile as he watched Lexie. She had a wide grin on her face, her eyes were sparkling, and seemed to be having a great time. She was beautiful.

Lexie couldn't help but smile as she watched Mark. He had same proud look on his face that he always did when he was watching her, was having a lot of fun, and, even though he pretended not to be, was watching her like a hawk. He was adorable, handsome, and sexy all rolled into one.

By the fifth time around, you never would've known that Lexie had started out terrified.

About an hour later they had all finally gotten off of the ice and were sitting on the bleachers eating snacks from the concession stand.

"You got some crumbs right there." He said gesturing to her cheek. He then proceeded to pull her into his lap and begin kissing her cheek and tickling her.

"Mark!" She shrieked laughing.

"You guys are giving me a cavity." Christina said looking up from the bag of cotton candy she and Meredith were currently devouring.

"And all that cotton candy isn't?" She asked between laughing shrieks.

"Nope." Meredith said giggling as Derek wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"God, what is with everyone?" Cristina asked. Derek was now kissing a giggling Meredith's face, Callie and Arizona were laughing and feeding each other chocolate bars, and Mark was still tickling Lexie.

"Awww, are you jealous? You want me to do that too?" Owen asked sarcastically.

"No, I have cotton candy." She said bluntly.

Mark finally stopped tickling Lexie, looked at her seriously, and said, "Got it."

"You sure?" She said laughing and kissing him again.

Before he could reply Alex and Izzie burst through the doors. "The in vitro worked! I'm pregnant!" Izzie screamed excitedly.

"Oh my God, Iz. That's awesome." Lexie said being the first to hug her friend. Mark congratulated them as well then they stepped back.

Mark wrapped his arms around her waist and put his chin on her shoulder and began to open his mouth.

"Don't even think about it." She said before he had a chance to speak.

"Okay." He said smiling and kissing her cheek.

He tightened his grip around her waist as they watched Meredith. They were two of the few people who knew about her miscarriage. She was trying to be happy, but they both knew that look in her eyes. The longing, heartbroken dark and twisty look.

…..

Later that night Mark crawled into bed beside Lexie.

"So, I was thinking…" He said teasingly and trailing off.

"It's not funny!" She said sitting up. "Do you realize how monumentally disastrous that would be if we had kids before I was ready? It's just… Not funny." She said looking at him.

"Relax. I was just teasing." He said laughing.

"Not funny." She said flopping back down on the mattress.

"Hilarious." He said rolling on top of her.

"Nope." She said a smile tugging at her lips.

"Yep." He said leaned down and kissed her.

"Maybe a little…." She admitted after he pulled away.

"Maybe a lot." He replied kissing her again before rolling off of her.

"Nope, just a little." She said smiling as he lay, propped up on his arm, looking at her.

"A lot." He replied kissing her again.

"I hate you." She mumbled giggling.

"I love you too." He said wrapping his arms around her. They fell asleep with matching smiles on their faces.


	8. I'll Stand By You

Thanks to AiLing, lucyybella, and MerDer4ever for the great reviews on the last chapter.

The song for this chapter is I'll Stand by You by the Pretenders, however the Glee version really inspired this, but either way, the lyrics say it all.

About a month after the last chapter. Novemberish.

This chapter introduces kind of a secondary focus of the story. Mark and Lexie's relationships with their friends.

I don't own anything.

…...

Lexie giggled as Mark walked by the lunch table, kissed the top of her head, and then walked to the attending table. Meredith rolled her eyes and laughed.

"What?" Lexie asked her sister innocently.

"You. You're all bright and shiny."

"It's gross." Christina added with a smirk.

Lexie stuck out her tongue and looked over to where Mark was looking at her with a smile on her face.

"Hey." Alex said as he and Izzie sat down.

"What'd we miss?" Izzie asked.

"McSteamy kissed Lexipedia on the head and she's all bright and shiny."

"It's gross." Meredith added.

"I think it's sweet." Izzie said as she began to shove salad in her mouth.

"Hey, Iz." Lexie said glancing at her watch. "If you want me to do your ultrasound before your surgery, I need to do it now."

"Okay, let's go." She said standing up.

"Iz, what about lunch?" Alex asked looking up.

"You can eat later." She replied pulling him up and following Lexie.

…

"I…. Uh…." Lexie said staring at the screen.

"What? What's wrong?" Izzie asked beginning to sit up.

"Oh, nothing. I just…. Alex, can you come look at this?" She asked looking up.

"Sure." Alex said confused coming over.

"I don't know if I'm right and I don't wanna freak her out unless I know I am." Lexie whispered showing him the screen.

"Holy shit." Alex muttered as he looked at the screen. "You're right." He whispered to Lexie.

"What's going on?" Izzie asked.

Alex wordlessly turned the screen to face her.

"I… Oh my God. I… I… Four." Izzie said speechlessly as she counted the fetuses on the screen.

"Now, I can call someone. I can probably have Addison up here in a few hours…"

"No, it's fine. I can handle it." Izzie said sitting up.

"Iz…." Lexie said.

"It's fine." Izzie said sternly as she got up and walked out of the room.

"Call Addison." Alex said.

…..

Mark Sloan walked down the hallway. He wasn't surprised to see Addison. Lexie had told him about Izzie being pregnant with quadruplets. He was surprised to see her and Alex banging on a supply closet door.

"Lexie! Open the damn door!" Alex yelled banging on it as Mark walked over.

"What the hell's going on?" Mark asked.

"We were walking down the hall going to meet Addison before Izzie's surgery is over and we turned the corner and she freaked. She started crying and ran into the supply closet and locked the damn door. So, I went to get Addison and when I came back she was still in there." Alex said.

"We've been standing here for ten minutes. She won't open the door." Addison said looking at Mark.

"I'll get her to." Mark said stepping towards the door.

"We've been trying for ten minutes…" Addison said.

"She's my fiancé for God's sake. I think I can get her to open a damn door." He said to Addison. He then turned towards the door and spoke in the soft loving voice reserved for Lexie. "Lex." He said gently knocking. "Sweetheart, it's me. Please open the door."

Addison broke the silence that followed. "Sweetheart? God, you really have changed." She said laughing. "Hey, Alex, how about you take me and brief me about Izzie's situation?" She said noticing that Mark wanted to be left alone.

"Yeah." Alex said. Addison looked at Mark for a moment and then walked off with Alex.

"Lexie, please open the door. You don't have to come out, just let me in. Because this, knowing that something's wrong and you won't let me help you is killing me. Please Lexie. For me." He said leaning against the door.

He heard the lock click and then some shuffling.

He slowly opened the door and saw Lexie huddled in a corner.

"Hey. What's wrong?" He said sitting beside her. She shook her head and continued to sob.

He pulled her close and began to stroke her hair. "Lex, you can tell me anything. You know that." He whispered.

"I nearly died." She said softly.

"What?" He asked as he unconsciously tightened his grip.

"D-d-during the shooting. He… He found me in the hallway. He said he was only looking for three people. Derek, and the chief, and me." She said trailing off.

"Son of a bitch." Mark muttered.

"He… He pointed the gun at me. I thought I was about to die and all I could think of Is how you would never know that I was still in love with you too. I was so scared and in that moment I just knew. You were the love of my life and you were all I could think of. I was going to tell you, but then I saw Alex and I just… I couldn't… And this hallway, it was where it happened. I've been avoiding it, but I didn't realize until it was too late. And now… Now it feels like he'll appear, ready to take me away from you. I mean, I know it's irrational. That he's dead, but I can't stop thinking about it." She said rambling with tears still running down her face.

"Oh, Lex." He said kissing her. "I knew, I tried to tell myself that it was wishful thinking, but I knew. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"I wanted to, but I just… I figured it wasn't that big a deal with everything that had happened and then when things began to settle down, people began to move on. And I just couldn't bring it up again."

"He's dead, Lex. He shot himself. And even if he was there you wouldn't get hurt. I'd protect you. I'm never going to let anyone hurt you." He said wiping away her tears.

"I know." She said softly.

….

They stayed in the supply closet for several hours. Just talking and holding each other.

"I think we should go." She said looking up.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "We can stay in here if you don't want to go."

"I'm sure." She said standing up.

"Okay." He said softly as he grabbed her hand.

They made it halfway down the hall before Lexie began to tense up.

"You okay?" Mark asked looking at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. He thought about suggesting that they sit down, but Lexie was determined.

He softly talked to her as they continued down the hall.

When they finally exited the hall, Lexie began crying again.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Mark asked sitting her down on a stray gurney.

"That was the first time I walked down that hall since the shooting and when he was pointing the gun at me, you were all I wanted, and now I have you and I just… People died, people got shot and I just never realized how lucky I got. If that SWAT guy had come a second later I could be dead right now." She said looking up at him.

"Lex, but he did come and you're okay. We're all okay." He said holding her. She had never told anyone about this or really dealt with the shooting.

"We're okay." She repeated burying herself further in his arms and for the first time in a long time, felt completely safe in the hospital.


	9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Thanks to AiLing, driver picks the music, and for the great reviews.

What Mark tells Derek is taken from AiLings great review. It was beautiful and I just had to use it.

This is December, Christmas Eve then Christmas Day to be exact. The first dinner is like an informal Christmas Eve barbecue, then the second is the formal Christmas Day dinner.

The song is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

I don't own anything!

….

Mark laughed as he watched Lexie talking to Izzie and Meredith. After she had told him, she had finally moved on from the shooting, but he hadn't. Every time he saw her laugh, every time he felt her skin, every time they talked, all he could think of was that he almost lost her. No one else knew. He was glad she had finally gotten past it, but he couldn't help but think about it.

"You okay?" Derek asked coming to stand near his friend.

"Lexie almost got shot. I was that close to losing her and I didn't know it. And she almost never got the chance to tell me that she still loved me and I almost didn't get the chance to make things right with her." He said before taking a long drink of beer.

"Mark…" Derek said looking at him.

"I mean she's fine now, but I can't help thinking about that. I wouldn't have been able breathe if I lost her. I probably would have died from a broken heart or killed myself. Just knowing I came that close… I just… It kills me every time I think about it." He said staring at her and his icy blue eyes filling with tears.

"But she didn't get shot. You didn't lose her. She told you she still loved you. You made things right with her. You know every time I look about Meredith I think about all the pain she went through that day, but then I remember that the most important things, her and me are still here. We can't change the past, but we can shape our future and so we shouldn't dwell on the past. You have to move on, that's how you stay alive." Derek said smiling at Mark before walking off and going to talk to Meredith.

Mark felt familiar soft hands cover his eyes.

"Lexie." He said laughing as he grabbed her hands, whirled around to kiss her, and his lips collided with hers.

"Mark!" She exclaimed pulling back. He had knocked over a bottle of beer on the table beside them.

"Shit." He muttered bending down as Lexie handed him several festive Christmas napkins.

After they cleaned up the mess Lexie smiled at Mark. "What?" he asked laughing after he threw the napkins away.

"What am I gonna do with you?" She said laughing.

"I can think of a few things." He said secutively.

"Mark! What'd I tell you about public dirty flirting?" She laughed.

"I don't quite remember." He said stepping closer so that they were a hair apart.

They leaned into kiss when Mark felt something hit his head. He looked in the direction it came from and saw Meredith, Christina, Alex, and Izzie all sitting on the couch together. They were covered in piles of balled up napkins, coincidentally the same thing that hit Mark in the head.

"Wasn't us." They said innocently throwing the napkins to the floor.

Just then Derek, Callie, Arizona, and Owen walked in with the food. "Children, behave." Derek said sternly as he put the plate of steaks on the table.

"Okay, Dad." Mark said picking up the balled up napkin and throwing it at Derek.

Derek caught the napkin, threw it in the trash and then said, "Dinner's ready."

The living room was soon a chorus of mmm's, smells great, etc.

…..

They finally got home around one in the morning.

Mark opened the door as he and Lexie said goodnight to Callie, Arizona, Christina, and Owen as they opened their apartment across the hall.

They walked in and put their jackets on the hooks by the door, they shut the door behind them and stopped in their tracks.

"Wow." Lexie said looking at their tree. It was beautiful. It was covered in white, gold, silver, and glass ornaments with white lights that emitted a warm glow wrapped around it. Underneath it were presents wrapped in brightly colored paper. On the top was the white gold star Mark had bought as an early Christmas present.

"Merry Christmas, Lexie." Mark said kissing her.

"Merry Christmas, Mark." She said softly as their lips parted.

They fell asleep watching old Christmas movies together in their pajamas and when the light streamed through their windows onto their couch around eleven, Mark laughed that Lexie had fallen asleep on top of him.

They had a fairly lazy morning. Lexie made a nice breakfast, then they opened their presents, some from their friends and family, some from each other.

After several hours of eating homemade popcorn and talking they showered, got dressed nicely, then headed over to Meredith and Derek's.

That Christmas was the best of Mark's life and the best of Lexie's, not counting her childhood ones. There was no Sloan, no drunk parents, no rush, just them.

And that was the best gift of all.


	10. With You

Thanks to AiLing, driver picks the music, and for the great reviews.

This takes place around mid- January.

The song is With You by Jessica Simpson. I heard it on a Friends vid and I was like that's Mark and Lexie.

….

"You have beautiful fingers." Mark said as he played with Lexie's hands. The alarm clock had just gone off and they were still lying in bed.

"Mmmmm?" Lexie murmured tiredly as she snuggled closer to his body.

"Remind why you're getting up on your day off?" He asked pulling her closer.

"Because," She said lifting her head off of his chest and looking into his eyes, "I promised Mere I'd clean out George's old room for her." She said softly. George's old room still had some of his stuff in it and Meredith said it was too painful. Meredith and Derek had recently told her and Mark that since the house in the woods would be done in a few weeks, they were going to give Meredith's mother's house to Izzie and Alex. They had told all of their other friends and now they were all pitching in to clean it and get it perfect for Alex and Izzie, who had no idea about the plans.

"Lexie…" Mark said looking at her.

"Mark. It's fine." She said laughing. "George died a year and a half ago. I'm not gonna freak out."

"You sure?" He asked looking at her.

"I'm sure." She said. She kissed him before getting up.

He got up and went to go shower, while she went to go eat breakfast.

About half an hour later, Lexie looked up to see him coming out of their room.

She walked towards him.

"I love you." He said kissing her.

"I love you too. Now go save lives." She said smiling.

He kissed her again before leaving.

…..

About three hours later Lexie entered Izzie's hospital room. Addison had put her on bed rest several weeks ago.

"What are you doing here? I thought you have the day off." Izzie said looking up from the scarf she was knitting.

"I do. I just I was at Mere's and I found something that belongs to you." Lexie said softly.

"Of course you found something that belongs to me. I LIVE there." She said laughing.

"I found this is George's old room." Lexie said holding up the letter.

"Let me see it." Izzie said. She began to read it, but began to sob. "I… I can't… Could you?" She asked giving the letter to Lexie.

"Okay." Lexie said taking it. She sat on the edge of the bed and began to read. "Dear Izzie, I know that by now you know that I joined the Army and I know that you're probably mad at me. I'm the guy that gets killed. No, I'm the guy that gets killed cleaning his own gun. But I know that this is what I should do. You and Meredith, even Alex and Christina, used to be my family, but the past year you haven't really been. Maybe I pushed you away or maybe we just drifted apart, I don't really know, but what I do know is that I miss my family. I miss having people know what I'm thinking. I miss people confising in me, crawling in my bed after their boyfriends make them mad. I even miss you and Meredith bugging me to buy tampons. Maybe I'll find my new family in the Army, maybe I won't, but either way I'll be saving lives. We did it, Iz. We're doers. Love, George." Lexie said looking up.

Izzie was sobbing.

"Iz?" Lexie said gently grabbing Izzie's hand. When she didn't reply Lexie stood up. "I'm gonna leave this here and go get Alex. Okay?" She said gently squeezing Izzie's foot before leaving.

…

About an hour later, Lexie had found Alex and had finally found Mark standing outside of a patients room talking to Derek.

Mark noticed her and told Derek he'd talk to him later then walked towards Lexie.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Hey, have you been crying?" Mark asked touching her arm.

She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him. After she pulled away she explained. "I found a letter that George wrote to Izzie before he died. I had to read it to her. He was her best friend. I mean I am now, but he was more, he was her family. He… He didn't realize he still was and I… I just… I'm almost ready. You're my family. More than my sisters, maybe more than my parents. And I just need you to know that."

"I know." He said smiling at her.

"You do?" She asked.

"Of course I do. Now, you're exhausted. Go home, get some sleep. I'll be home in a few hours." He said smiling at her.

"Okay, I love you." She said kissing him.

"I love you too. Now go. I'll be home in a few hours." He said smiling at her.

…..

Several hours later Lexie woke up to Mark kissing her.

"Hey." He said smiling. He was leaning over her with his left arm slanted over her body.

"Hey" She said looking up at him.

"You hungry?" He asked looking down.

"Starving. I haven't eaten since breakfast." She admitted.

"We better fix that." He said laughing and pulling her up.


	11. The Rose

Thanks to Lufan, driver picks the music, AiLing, and for the great reviews.

So sorry that this took forever to update, but I just started tenth grade and I am sooooo busy.

So, this around late February.

The song is The Rose by Bette Midler.

Oh yeah, last night, ET did a segment on Grey's that I happened to catch. You should definitely watch it. It's on the website, under TV. It has major Lexie spoilers for the premiere and a Mark scene from next season.

Just a little side note: Each of the babies names are kind of self explanatory for who their named after. I'm gonna pretend Elizabeth is Meredith's middle name because we've never been told. And I know that one of them practically has the same name as Izzie, but the picture I found already had names.

I don't own anything.

….

"Lex?" Mark called as his alarm went off and he immediately noticed that Lexie was no longer in his arms.

"Yeah?" She called from the kitchen.

He got out of bed and pulled a pair of jeans over his boxers. He then walked into the kitchen.

He burst into laughter at the sight of his fiancé in the kitchen in her apron. Her hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail and she was covered in flour. She was currently decorating a pale pink cake for Izzie's baby shower that they were having at the hospital later.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What does it look like?" She snapped. He could immediately tell that she hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"Lex, how much sleep did you get?" He asked holding back laughter.

"I don't know. A few hours." She said guiltily as a blush crept to her cheeks.

"Lexie." Mark said crossing his arms across his chest.

"Maybe three and a half hours…" She admitted.

"Lexie!" Mark exclaimed.

"Well, I wanted to finish Izzie's cake before we go to work, so that we can just take it and stick in the fridge." She replied stubbornly.

"You are insane, woman." He said looking at her.

"And you are not funny." She replied as she began to take her apron off. "I'm gonna go shower." She went to their bedroom before calling out, "You coming?"

"Of course." Mark said grinning.

….

"Lexie. Go to sleep." Mark said lying beside Lexie on a bed in the on call room. They had a surgery in am hour and he wanted her to get some rest. She had nearly fallen asleep during Izzie's baby shower.

"Mark, this is stupid." She said sitting up. "We have a surgery in an hour."

"Which is exactly why you need to go to sleep now." He said gently pushing her back down on the mattress.

"I hate you." She pouted as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too." He said kissing her. She tried to deepen the kiss but he pulled away.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, her eyes popping open.

"You know that once we start, we can't stop. Sleep then sex later." He said grinning at her.

"Fine." She said. As she finally began to fall asleep, her pager went off.

She looked and he watched a smile spread across her face.

"What is it?" Mark asked as she sat up and straightened her scrub top.

"Addison. She's prepping Izzie for her C-section." Lexie said. "I gotta go." She said kissing him and leaving the room.

Mark lay back against the bed thinking to himself. Now Lexie would miss their surgery and be able to get some rest. She probably wouldn't like it, but he did. He didn't like to see her exhausted.

…

Mark stood in the doorway of the nursery watching Lexie with the quadruplets. They were born just over a month early. They had no medical problems, which was a miracle.

He smiled as she went to each incubator softly talking to each of them as she placed a warm hand over their tiny body.

"Hey." He said walking in.

"Hey!" She said excitedly as he walked in. He could immediately tell that she had gotten more sleep.

"Having fun?" He asked smiling at her.

"Come here." She said pulling his hand towards the first incubator. "This one is Hannah Michael Karev. She has brown hair and brown eyes like Alex. She's the squirmy one." She said gently ticking the baby's foot.

"She's a cutie." Mark said as he also thought to himself about his and Lexie's kids would be.

"Then we have Isabella George Karev. Bella somehow ended up with blonde hair and blue eyes. She's probably the shyest, but she cries ALOT." She said as she once again tickled the young baby's foot.

"Probably a recessive gene." Mark noted trying to keep himself contained. Seeing how good Lexie was around babies and kids made him kind of impatient, but he was willing to wait because she was worth waiting for.

"Then we have the fraternal twins. This one is Emily Elizabeth Karev. She's by far the loudest and according to Alex, she's already smiled, but Addison said it was just gas." She said a smile tugging at her lips. "And then last we have Gwendolyn Caroline Karev. She's the tiniest and so far appears to have the cliché perfect baby personality."

"And she was named after you." Mark pointed out.

"And Gwen was named after me." Lexie said smiling.

"That means she's my favorite." Mark said smiling at Lexie.

"Mark." Lexie said absentmindedly as Gwen wrapped her fist around her finger.

"Yeah?" He asked watching her.

"July's perfect." She said softly.

"For what?" He asked confused.

"For our wedding." She said turning around.

"Our wedding? You mean…?"

"I'm ready." She said smiling at him.

Before he knew it she was in his arms and they were kissing.

"Let's go home and do this. I highly doubt that Izzie want their kids to see us doing this." Lexie said pulling away laughing. She knew exactly where things were heading.

As they walked though the nursery door together, they felt like they were also walking through another door together.

The door that led to the endless possibilities that their future together offered.


	12. Kokomo

Thanks to AiLing. mcbitchy28, McDayDreaming, driver picks the music, and bloomsky for the great reviews.

So this fic will have about five more chapters, then an epilogue. I originally intended for this to be longer, but school started back up and now I have like no time and I want to finish this before the new season starts.

This is about late April.

The song is Kokomo by the Beach Boys.

I don't own anything.

….

"You know I had you pegged for a red Mustang convertible kinda guy." Lexie said when the door to Mark's storage garage property opened.

"Who me?" He asked with a smirk before tossing both of their coffee cups in a nearby trashcan and then picking Lexie up and playfully tossing her in the passenger seat..

They were going to the annual plastics conference in LA. Mark had insisted on driving there, saying it would be more fun. Lexie had replied that neither of their cars, that usually just sat in the apartment complex parking lot, were exactly road trip kinda cars.

He had just smiled and said that he had a road trip kinda car.

And now here they were. In Mark's car, driving along the coast to LA.

"Hey, turn it up! I love this song!" Lexie said reaching for the Mark's IPod Touch which was currently hooked up to the radio.

"Lexie." Mark said laughing as she began to sing at the top of her lungs as the song reached its chorus.

"ARUBA, JAMAICA, OOOOOOOOOHHHHH I WANNA TAKE YOU TO BERMUDA, BAHAMA, COME ON PRETTY MAMA. KEY LARGO, MONTEGO. BABY, WHY DON'T WE GO? DOWN TO KOKOMO. WE'LL GET THERE FAST AND THEN WE'LL TAKE IT SLOW! THAT'S WHERE WE WANNA GO! WAY DOWN TO KOKOMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She sung smiling at him.

"You're insane." He said laughing.

"Am not! TO MARTINIQUE, THAT MONSERRAT MISTIQUE!"

"Yes you are. WE'LL PULL OUT TO SEA. AND WE'LL PERFECT OUR CHEMISTRY. BY AND BY WE'LL DEFY AND LITTLE BIT OF GRAVITYYYYYYYY!" He said with a grin before singing with her.

….

Later that evening after finally getting to LA, they were walking down the beach together barefoot. They had dropped their bags off at the hotel and then had headed towards the beach in the same clothes that they had worn in the car. They had left their shoes in the car and just started walking.

The sun was beginning to set. Mark was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Lexie was wearing short white denim shorts and a hot pink tank top with one of Mark's light blue button downs on top of it.

"You know the one thing I hate about Seattle is that it doesn't have an ocean." Mark said as the waves lapped at their feet.

"It has enough rain for an ocean." Lexie said smiling ignoring all of the stares that Mark drew from gorgeous women in bikinis.

"Doesn't count." He said smiling and picking her up.

"Mark! What are you doing?" She shrieked as Mark ran into the waves. "Marcus Dylan Sloan! Don't get me wet!"

Mark looked at her and then began to turn back, but he tripped, sending both of them tumbling into the waist high water.

"Mark!" Lexie yelled coming up from the water.

"What?" He asked laughing. They were both soaked.

"This isn't funny!" She yelled, but she couldn't help but crack a grin. "My hair smells like sea water." She giggled sniffing her soaking wet hair.

Mark took a whiff. "You hair smells good." He said looking at her in all seriousness.

Within seconds the two were in hysterical laughter.

They meet each other's eye and before they knew it they were kissing. Their embrace was broken when they toppled over into the water.

"Let's go to shore." Mark said glancing at a shivering Lexie and placing an arm around her waist.

When they made it back to shore Lexie suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Lex, you okay?" Mark asked her.

She didn't reply. He followed her gaze to a young blonde woman, who looked to be Lexie's age, with a toddler on her hip in the same frozen position. Then the woman handed the toddler to a man beside her and began to run across the sand to Lexie. Lexie did the same.

As the woman came closer, Mark realized who it was. It was Julianne Iverson, Lexie's best friend from high school and childhood. She had had many best friends, but Julianne, Jules, as Lexie had called her, had been the best of the best. Lexie hadn't seen her since high school graduation.

Mark watched with a grin as the two women embraced, clearly ignoring the fact that Lexie was soaked.

Julianne motioned for the man to follow as she and Lexie walked towards Mark.

"Mark, this is Jules. Jules, this is Mark, my fiancé." Lexie said smiling. They shook hands as Julianne's husband came up behind them.

"Lex, you remember Sean?"

"Yeah, of course I do. You guys have been together since eleventh grade." Lexie said smiling and shaking Sean's hand.

"And this." Julianne said taking the toddler off of her husband's hip. "Is Riley Alexandra." She said smiling.

"Hi." Lexie said grinning at the young girl.

"You wanna hold her?" Jules asked.

"Of course I do." Lexie said taking Riley.

"Wet." Riley said sticking out her tongue as Lexie held her. "Oshhuuuuunnn!" She said excitedly pointing towards the water.

"She's a cutie." Mark said smiling.

"She turned two in March." Sean said smiling and extending his hand. "You must be the boyfriend."

"Fiancé." Mark corrected, shaking Sean's hand.

"Oh my God! Lex, you didn't tell me you were engaged!" Jules shrieked.

"Well, I am." Lexie said smiling.

"We have to go out to celebrate." Jules said taking Riley back.

"Jules, I've been engaged for two months." Lexie said laughing.

"Well, it's new news to me." She said.

"I'm soaked." Lexie whined.

"Lex, you're damp. And you're at the beach on LA. People won't care. Oooohhh! We can go to Jaws! It's the cutest little restaurant and it's right on the boardwalk." She said smiling and beginning to walk.

Lexie grabbed Mark's hand and began to follow.

…..

A few hours later, Lexie and Jules were walking down the dark beach, arms linked, each with an ice cream cone in hand.

"So is Mark good in bed?" Jules suddenly asked.

"Jules!" Lexie exclaimed laughing.

"Well…. He looks like he be… You know… Good in bed."

"I love you, but I am not discussing my sex life with you." Lexie said looking at her friend.

"Fine." Jules said. "So tell me the story about you and Mark."

"You really wanna know?"

"Yeah." Jules said smiling.

"Okay, sit down. Well, first there's a little background information that you need to know about him. His parents were rich and successful and hired nannies to love him. He was basically raised by his best friend, Derek's mom."

"Derek. Isn't that your sister's husband?" Jules asked.

"Yeah, but we're not there yet. Anyway, Derek had a wife named Addison. She's this gorgeous red headed neonatal surgeon and Mark slept with her. So Derek packed his bags and left for Seattle. And back in New York Mark and Addison were together and she got pregnant. He was all excited, but the she had an abortion. He was mad then, but now, after being with me, he says it never would've worked. Then Addison came out to Seattle and discovered Meredith and Derek were together. But that's a long story, not my story. Anyway, Mark came out to Seattle twice. The first time he left, but the second time he stayed. I got to Seattle about a year after he did. We didn't work together that much, just once or twice and I was too worried about things with Meredith to really notice how I felt around him. And then when I started working with him, he teased me because I was convinced that I was in love with this other intern George and refused to tell him. And him teasing me, I didn't realize it at the time, was one of the most natural things in the world. And I remember asking him 'What if he doesn't like me back?' and he just got this weird look on his face and said 'Then he's an idiot.' And walked out of the room. Then there was some flirting and I realized that he didn't hate me like he did all the other interns. I figured it was because I was his best friend's girlfriend's sister, but then a realized it wasn't. Then I organized a group of crazy cutter interns and we almost killed someone, then I got on a case with him and he… He made a woman speak and when she said hi, all of the feeling I had for him just rushed to my head. So I went to his hotel room, stripped off all my clothes and said 'Teach me.' He said something about how I was Little Grey and he promised, but it happened and it wasn't just sex. We talked for hours and laughed. Then he said that he couldn't do it again, we couldn't do it again, but then he changed his mind and that night he explained to me that Derek had expressly told him, 'Keep Little Sloan out of Little Grey.' So we snuck around for a while and I broke his penis."

"You broke his penis?" Jules asked looking at her. "Gosh, Lex. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Anyway, I got sick of sneaking around so I told him to tell Derek or we were through. So he told Derek and got beat up because of it. And when I said it wasn't worth it, he insisted that it was. And it definitely was. Then for a while Derek didn't talk to him and I told him that I was sorry for breaking his penis, his hand, his relationships, and just him and he looked at me and said, 'You think you broke me Little Grey? You're the one who put me back together.'"

"And this is the guy who used to be a manwhore?"

"Yeah. So eventually he and Derek made up. And everything was going good then he asked me to move in with him and I said no so he tried to make me thing he was moving on and that lasted all of half an hour. Then suddenly George is dead and his hot ex-sex friend lived right across the hall and Clara, my patient, could walk so I took a pair of panties and a toothbrush, he had begged me to just leave those things there, and held them up before wheeling my suitcase in. Then I lost a schizophrenic and freaked out and thought I was going to lose my job, but I didn't and he made me feel better. And then suddenly my dad's in the hospital and Mark's mad because I offered to give my liver, without asking him, but he came around and sat with me during the surgery. And for a few months after that, things were just good. Then Sloan came. I mean I knew how he was before he met me, but he had a daughter. I was so shocked I accidently cut the tip of my pinky off. Then she moves in and tells him she's pregnant. So he tried to take care of her and I just kind of took a backseat and things went downhill from there. We broke up then I was drunk and slept with Alex. And if I hadn't, we probably would've gotten back together a week or two after he got back from LA. But I did and he wouldn't talk to me and I dyed my hair blonde and slept with Alex some more. I was trying to convince myself that I had moved on and he should too, but then I thought he did and I broke down crying in the bathroom. Then I had to unplug Gary Clark's life and I asked how he learned how to not care and he said he was still learning. And then Mark cheated on Teddy and it gave me a satisfaction that I was the only woman he had ever been with that he had never cheated on. And I was trying to pretend like I didn't care, but I did, then suddenly he's telling me that he's still in love with me. And I just stuttered and he walked away. Then I was going to fix everything, that day, the day of the shooting, but then it happened and Mark covered me and pushed me to the ground. Then we found Alex and I nearly died and I told him I loved him, but then me and Alex stopped being ducks and I got back together with Mark and we got engaged, but weren't going to set a date or anything. Then my dad died, but he helped me get through it. And then my best friend in Seattle had her kids and I just realized I was ready. And here we are." Lexie said smiling.

"You two sound like something straight out of a soap opera." Jules said laughing.

"Shut up." Lexie said giggling. "We should head back."

"Yeah." Jules agrees standing up.

…..

Later that night Mark and Lexie were lying in their bed in the hotel room.

"So, did you have fun with Jules?" Mark asked smiling.

"I did." Lexie said smiling.

"Good." He said smiling back. "We're getting married in two months." He said smiling.

"Yes, we are." She said, a grin spreading across her face.

"I love you, Lexie." Mark said kissing her.

"I love you too, Mark." Lexie said after they pulled apart.

"Way down to Kokomoooooooooooooooo." Mark sung loudly.

"People are trying to sleep." Lexie said giggling and clapping a hand over his mouth.

Mark licked her hand to get her to pull it away.

"You're disgusting." She said laughing.

"Am I?" He asked smiling before passionately kissing her.

"Maybe." She said with a soft smile as Mark began to take her shirt off.


	13. Truly Madly Deeply

Thanks to mcbitchy28, driver picks the music, and lucyybella for the great reviews.

So this is finally the much awaited wedding!

This is in July.

The song is Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden.

I don't own anything!

….

"Lexie, you look gorgeous!" Meredith exclaimed as she walked back into the large luxurious cabana. She was wearing a pale yellow bridesmaids dress, like Izzie, Molly, Jules, Callie, despite the fact that Mark had insisted that she stand beside him in addition to Derek and Owen, and her three other best friends from her childhood and high school, Lucy, Jenny, and Sara.

"Oh my God! You do!" Izzie, who was Lexie's maid of honor, said smiling as she glanced up from putting each of her squirming five month old daughters, who were wearing miniature pale yellow flower girl dresses, into a white old fashioned pram with yellow roses and white lilies wrapped around the handles as well as the other wheels.

"Auntie Lexie! You're a princess!" Four year old Laura, the official flower girl, piped up from where Molly was fastening her daughters white sandals. Laura looked perfect for the Bahamian wedding. She was wearing a flower girl dress that was as white as snow, with a pale yellow sash that perfectly matched the crown of yellow roses and white lilies balanced on top of her head of red curls. She also had a white basket full of yellow rose petals and white lilies on top of her lap.

"She is a princess." Jules said laughing and looking up. She had just finished putting white lilies and a single yellow rose along the right side of Lexie's head. It pinned back a handful of Lexie's brunette curls and looked perfect.

"Lex, stop moving!" Lucy said looking up from where she was perfecting the French manicure on Lexie's toenails.

"No one can even see my feet." Lexie said.

"Well, we'll know." She insisted.

"Fine." Lexie said and glanced around her.

Meredith was getting all of the bouquets together. Izzie was still handing the quadruplets. Molly was helping Laura adjust her crown. Callie was already on the dock, standing with Mark. Jules was still messing with her hair. Lucy was still fixing her toenails.

Jenny was messing with her dress.

And Sara was obsessively going over the arrangement for them walking out, despite the fact that they had mastered it at the rehearsal. But leave it to the big time LA wedding planner to obsess anyway.

"What do you think?" Jules asked after she, Lucy, and Jenny all stepped back.

Lexie looked at herself in the large floor length mirror. She loved everything about how she looked. She looked perfect for their island wedding and she looked like herself. She was wearing a spaghetti strap, mermaid cut dress, that flowed down to her ankles. It hugged her small waist before gently flowing out as it hit her hips. It had tiny pearls lining the straps and the seam where it met her hips, but that was about as extravagant as it got. It was simple, but beautiful. She had white high heeled sandals underneath her dress. She was wearing the necklace that her parents had given her to wear on her wedding day when she was about eight. It was a gold outline of a heart on a delicate gold chain. Her curled and flowered hair and her softly made up face rounded out the look.

"Amazing." Lexie breathed softly looking in the mirror.

…

Mark Sloan stood on the end of the dock. Behind him was the pastor who was going to marry him and behind the pastor was the clear blue water that the island was famous for.

He was in a light beige suit with a light blue button down with the collar unbuttoned underneath. There was a single yellow rose pinned against his chest.

Derek stood beside him in a white button down with the collar unbuttoned on top of light beige pants beside him. Callie stood beside Derek wearing a pale yellow bridesmaids dress with a small bouquet of yellow roses and white lilies in her hands. Owen stood beside her, wearing the same thing as Derek.

Above and around them was a white arch covered in yellow roses and white lilies.

The white chairs that all of their guests were sitting in were lined with yellow roses and white lilies.

The water beside the boardwalk leading to the dock was full of yellow rose petals and white lilies.

He was beginning to get impatient when the music finally started.

First, the old fashioned pram with Izzie's kids in it was pushed out by Alex who had been waiting in the back. He pushed them down and then sat in the front row.

Next Laura came out tossing flowers before suddenly stopping and turning back.

"Sweetheart, where are you going?" Eric asked from one of the chairs right next to the aisle.

"I randed out Daddy." The four year old said with wide eyes.

"Laura, it's okay. Just go to Uncle Mark."

Laura did as her father said and walked down towards Mark.

"I randed out, Uncle Mark. I'm sorry." She said holding out her empty basket, her light brown eyes filling with tears.

"Hey, it's okay. You did a really good job." He said bending down to the four year olds eye level. He kissed her forehead and with a smile she walked over to where she had to stand.

Next Lucy, Jenny, Kaitlin, and Jules walked out one by one. They were followed by Molly, then Meredith, then Izzie.

Then he saw her. Lexie.

He felt a grin spread across his face. He watched her glance around at everyone before looking at him.

As she walked closer and closer towards him, he thought his heart would burst from happiness.

He smiled at her as she finally stopped and handed her bouquet to Izzie.

He half listened as the pastor read, absorbed in her.

Lexie could barely hear the pastor's words, she was so captured by Mark.

"Now the couple will read their vows." He said drawing both of them from their thoughts. "Lexie will go first."

"Marcus Dylan Sloan has been many things over the years. Some good, some bad. But there is one thing he has always been, the love of my life. When I look at him, I see my future, I see the next fifty years, and I see an eternity with the man I love. The man who taught me how to laugh, how to live every day like it was your last, the man who taught me that you don't love someone in spite of their flaws, you love them because of them. And we are flawed, but our flaws make us beautiful. Mark was always meant to be mine. He's my best friend, every wish on a star, every penny in a fountain, everything I ever wanted. He's the love of my life, and he will be as long as I'm living, after I'm gone, and even after the end of eternity. That's how you know when you've found the love of your life. That you know, without a doubt, that you'll always be together, even when you're apart, even after your time on earth is over, even when the last star in the sky has burned out. I'm in love with you, Mark, and I always will be." Lexie said staring into Mark's eyes.

Mark cleared his throat and then began.

"I never thought I'd know love. I'd come to accept that I was just going to wander from woman to woman for the rest of my life. But then I met you. I knew there was something different about you. I felt something for you that I had never felt in my life. It scared me at first because I didn't know what it was, but now I know that it was true love. We weren't supposed to be together. Star-crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet. I had always thought the movie was stupid, but now I realize that love makes it all worth it. And it was all worth it. I never doubted it for a second. Even after we broke up because I knew what the right thing was because of you and I knew that we'd eventually find each other again. It took a long time for me to admit it, but I never stopped loving. You can never stop loving the love of your life, no matter how hard you try. There are no words to express how much I love you, every star in the sky, every blade of grass in the ground, every fish in the sea wouldn't be enough to describe it. But I will try forever. Because you make forever possible. And I can't wait for our forever." He said smiling at her.

"Exchange the rings." The pastor said.

Lexie showed Mark the engraving on his, "We're beautiful", before sliding it on his finger.

Mark showed Lexie the engraving on hers, "You're the one who put me back together", before sliding it on her finger.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." He said grinning at them.

Mark pulled Lexie close and kissed her like never before. It was an indescribable feeling to kiss his wife.

They pulled apart to cheering and clapping.

Mark wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked away from all of the madness towards their wedding reception.

Later that night after hours of dancing and laughing and endless congratulations they finally got into the limousine that took them towards the luxury beach house that they were renting for their honeymoon. They had a mile of beach to themselves.

After they pulled up Mark picked Lexie up and carried her across the threshold.

When they walked into the living room they saw that their suitcases were already there in addition to all of their wedding gifts.

Mark pulled Lexie towards the bedroom which was full of rose petals and chocolates and balloons and a big banner that read congratulations. Lexie opened the sliding door to the pool which had flowers and candles floating in it.

Several hours later when they finally went to bed Lexie whispered in Mark's ear, "Good night, husband."

"Good night, wife." He replied pulling her close before falling asleep with his wife in his arms.


	14. Mine

Thanks to AiLing, mcbitchy28, driver oicks the mucic and LucyyBella for the great reviews.

This takes place nearly a year after Mark and Lexie got married. Mid June to be exact.

So, this fic will have three more chapters: this one, the next one, and an epilogue. I had originally planned on it being longer, but I want to finish it before the season premiere.

Speaking of the season premiere, is anyone else kind of annoyed about the lack of promo?

The song is Mine by Taylor Swift. My best friend has been singing it no stop, so its stuck in my head anyways.

I don't own anything.

….

Lexie Grey-Sloan stood in the bathroom stall staring at her watch. She had paged Izzie ten minutes ago.

While she waited she thought of the past year. Things had been amazing. Everything had been going good: Meredith was finally pregnant again and was going to go into labor any day, Izzie and Alex's girls were fourteen months and had begun to talk, but most importantly being married to Mark was the most amazing feeling in the world. If at all possible, she was even more in love with him than she had when they had gotten married. She had originally planned to change her last name to Sloan, but she had decided to go into Plastics and things would've gotten confusing so she had settled for the hyphenated one.

She was drawn from her thoughts when the door opened.

"Lex?" Izzie called walking in.

Lexie exited the stall and quickly checked all of the stalls to make sure they were empty. She then locked the door to the bathroom.

"Lexie, what are you doing?" Izzie asked laughing.

"I think I'm pregnant." Lexie whispered.

"Okay…." Izzie said looking at her friend. "What do you wanna do?"

"I have some stuff." Lexie said before walking back into the stall. Izzie sat down on the floor.

She came back with a grocery store bag full of pregnancy tests. She handed the bag to Izzie and sat down beside her.

"God, Lex. How many did you buy?" Izzie asked glancing into the bag.

"Thirty… I think."

"Alexandra Caroline Grey. You do not need thirty pregnancy tests."

"Yes, I do." Lexie insisted.

"So does Mark know?" Izzie asked as she looked at the various tests.

"No. I mean he knows something's different, he knows me too well not to notice and I've been trying to hide what is probably morning sickness from him."

"Why are you hiding it? You know he wants kids. He's wanted kids since he met you."

"Because I remember how much things with Sloan hurt him. He thought he was going to get to raise a baby. He bought a crib and everything. And I can't let him go through that again. I have to be sure. I have to be surer than sure. I have to be positive. And that's why I have the thirty tests." Lexie said.

"Lexie, you're tiny. You can't possibly pee enough for all of those."

"I drank ten bottles of water, two of apple juice, one of orange juice, and a cup of tea. I can pee enough." Lexie said grabbing the bag and walking back to the stall. She took out the first test and then pulled down her scrub pants and underwear and sat down on the toilet.

"Lexie, I love you, but I'm not watching you pee." Izzie said laughing.

"Please." Lexie said. "I need you to take them out of the packages for me and then stick them all back in, so they don't go all over the place. And I need you to look at the first one."

"Fine." Izzie said coming to stand in the doorway of Lexie's stall.

Lexie handed her the first test. Izzie stuck it back inside the box and put it on top of the toilet paper dispenser. She took the next one out and handed it to Lexie.

About an hour later there was a stack of tests in their boxes on the floor as well as the first test on the toilet paper dispenser.

"What does it say?" Lexie asked as Izzie looked.

"It's positive." Izzie said showing her.

"Stick it back in the box. We need to check all of the others to be sure." Lexie said trying to contain her excitement in case it was a false positive.

About half an hour later, they had checked all of them.

"Lexie, they're all positive. You're pregnant." Izzie said smiling as she put the bag full of tests on the sink counter.

"What if there false? What if I'm really not?" Lexie asked worriedly as she leaned against the sink.

"Pull up your shirt." Izzie said.

"What? Why?" Lexie asked.

"Because I'm going to specialize in O.B., gynecology, and neonatal. I'll know." Izzie said.

Lexie huffily complied.

Izzie gently felt Lexie's abdomen.

She pulled her hands away and Lexie pulled her shirt back down.

"Well?" Lexie asked.

"You're definitely pregnant. You're stomach has a small, barely noticeable bump. And it's hard like it's supposed to be when you are pregnant."

Lexie let the words sink in. She was pregnant. She had a little human being inside of her. A perfect, little mixture of her and Mark.

"I have to tell Mark." Lexie said beginning to walk off.

"Wait." Izzie said grabbing her arm. "Father's Day is in five days. Can you imagine how perfect it would be if that was when he found out?" She asked.

"You're right." Lexie admitted. "I can wait five days." She said thrusting the bag of tests in a tote bag that she had brought it in.

…

"Lex, you okay?" You've barely touched your food?" Mark asked that night as they sat curled up on the couch watching Survivor and eating Chinese food.

"Yeah. I'm fine, just not that hungry." She said.

"Are you sure you're not coming down with something? You've been getting sick all week."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I probably just ate some bad meat or cheese or whatever in the cafeteria." She said smiling at him.

"Okay." He said suspiciously. He was about to say more, but Callie and Arizona burst through the door. Lexie still didn't know why Mark had given them a key.

Lexie noticed the case of beer. What would they say if she didn't take one? She always took one and usually just kept it the whole night, sometimes she had two. They'd notice if she took one and didn't drink it, but she couldn't drink it.

They set the case on the coffee table and each grabbed one and then Mark grabbed two for them.

In her head she was trying to run through situations where it she wouldn't drink one without seeming suspicious, but apparently the baby had other ideas.

The second a beer was opened she felt sick to her stomach and felt a familiar hot, sticky kind of feeling in her throat.

"I…" Lexie tried to say before running off to the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

She must have forgotten to lock it because Mark walked in as she was puking.

"Hey, are you okay? Callie and Arizona went back to their apartment. Do you think you caught something? You've been on Arizona's service all week." He asked gently pulling back her hair and massaging her shoulders with his warm hands.

Before Lexie could reply Mark noticed the tote bag that she had stuck in the shower earlier.

"What's this doing here?" He said as he pulled it out. As he did some of the tests fell out.

"Lexie." He looked up at where she was currently rinsing out her mouth.

"Oh, Mark." She said softly as he pulled one out.

"When did you find out?" He asked as he slowly stood up.

"This morning, but I wanted it to be perfect. I was going to leave one of those on the kitchen counter with a card on Father's Day. It would've been perfect." She said softly.

"Lexie," he said cupping her face in his hands, "this is perfect. You're pregnant with our baby. I couldn't ask for anything more perfect. Because this right here," he said touching her stomach and then her cheek, "is all that matters. I have you and now we're going to have a baby." He said softly kissing her.

"How many tests did you take?" he asked after pulling away.

"Thirty-three." She admitted.

"Thirty-three? You're insane." He said smiling at her.

"Let's hope it's genetic." She said grinning.

"It better be." Mark said kissing her again.

"I love you." They said in unison after pulling away.

"Mark." Lexie said looking at him.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" He asked looking down at her in his arms.

"I'm kind of hungry now." She admitted.

"Well, we better fix that." He said leading her out of the bathroom.

…..

Later that night after Lexie had fallen asleep Mark lay awake with Lexie in his arms.

"You're everything I didn't even know I wanted. Didn't know I needed. You're everything and more." He whispered in her ear before kissing the side of her face and beginning to drift off to sleep.


	15. Beautiful Words

Thanks to for the great reviews.

This is about six months after the last chapter.

The song is Beautiful Words by The Afters. I saw a video with that song right before they broke up and it fit them so well and it fits them this chapter. They were the couple whose survival rate was about three percent, but they made it in my story and I just know they'll make it on the show and every moment in their lives, especially a big one like this, is a new chapter unfolding.

I don't own anything.

….

"What are you wearing?" Mark heard Lexie's voice come over his cell phone after he answered it at lunch. She had started her maternity leave about a week ago and usually called him about a hundred times a day.

Derek, who was sitting close enough to hear her, began laughing.

"What?" Everyone at the table said while Mark answered.

"My scrubs. What do you think?" He said laughing at her attempt to be dirty.

"You aren't any fun." Lexie replied. He could tell she was pouting. "So how many cool surgeries have I missed today?" She asked.

"Lexie, you're supposed to be resting. Besides I thought you were looking forward to maternity leave."

"I was, but it's so boring! I mean I don't have anything to do!"

"You finally got sick of staring at Katie's nursery?" He asked laughing. They had already named their daughter. They had wanted to wait until she was born, but they just knew who she was after the most recent ultrasound. They had also moved into a house in the same neighborhood as Alex and Izzie lived in Meredith's old house. Decorating the nursery and making it perfect had been a long project and they day after they finished, Lexie had sat on the chair in there for five hours straight.

"Don't mock me." She said.

"Okay, well you could read or watch a movie or watch TV or go on the computer or something." He said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I've already read all of the books we have. I don't feel like watching a movie. All of the TV shows on are either stupid soap operas or daytime reality shows. And the computer- Oh my God!" Lexie suddenly shrieked.

"What? What's wrong?" Mark asked worriedly. Everyone at the table looked at him intently.

"My water just broke!" Lexie said continuing to shriek.

"Okay, just stay calm. Your bag should be in the closet. I'll be there in ten minutes. I love you."

"I love you too." Lexie said before hanging up.

"What's going on?" Meredith asked. "Is Lexie okay?"

"Her water just broke." Mark said standing up. "Meredith I need you to come with me. And Karev I need you to find Izzie. And Derek-" Mark said quickly.

"Mark, just go. We'll handle everything here." Derek said patting him on the back.

"Right." He said before leaving with Meredith.

…..

"Oh, thank God!" Lexie said the minute they walked through the door. Mark could tell she was in the middle of a contraction.

"When did they start?" Meredith asked as she and Mark began to help Lexie out the door.

"Right after I called you. They're nine minutes apart." Lexie said as she slowly got into the backseat of the minivan Mark had recently bought. She already knew her daughter's pink car seat was in the trunk ready to go.

Meredith climbed in beside her, then Mark climbed into the driver's seat and they were off.

"Lex, you okay back there?" Mark asked as he looked into the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said softly.

"Come here Lexie." Meredith said patting her lap.

Lexie awkwardly maneuvered so that she was lying on the seat with her head in her sister's lap.

Meredith began stroking Lexie's hair.

"Hey, I know it hurts. It did with Brooke. She was a stubborn little girl, but the second you hear that first cry and see that scrunched up red face, it's all worth it. It isn't a cliché. It sounds like one, but it's really just the truth. And Mark will be there. And Izzie."

"And you." Lexie said softly. Though they had never discussed it, Meredith had a feeling she would be. Lexie had been there when Brooke was born, the day after Lexie found out she was pregnant.

"And me." Meredith replied. "Close your eyes. We'll be there soon."

….

"I need a wheelchair!" Mark yelled as he and Meredith walked into the ER, Lexie balanced between them. In the car, her contractions had gotten harsher and closer together.

Derek came towards them with one.

"How are you doing Little Grey?" Derek asked as he helped her into it.

"What do you think Derek? I'm in labor." She snapped. "I'm sorry. It just came out."

"It's okay. It must be a Grey thing." He said looking at Meredith.

"I was not that bad!" She said slapping him.

"Yes, you were."

"No, I-"

"Guys! My wife is in labor her! Can you save that for late?" He asked.

"Sorry." Meredith and Derek said in unison before Derek wheeled her off.

….

Ten minutes later they were waiting for Izzie in Lexie's room.

"I'm gonna kill her." Lexie said as she loosened her grip in Mark's hand right after another contraction ripped through her body.

"You are not going to kill her. You are going to kill Alex. He was supposed to find her." Meredith replied from the foot of Lexie's bed.

"No one is killing anybody. I'll find her." Derek said walking towards the door. After he walked out Callie, Arizona, Teddy, Bailey, Owen, Christina, April, Jackson, and the Chief walked in.

"Oh my God, are you guys serious?" Lexie said dramatically flopping back against the pillows.

"They did it to me too." Meredith said guiltily.

"Well, someone had to tell them I was here, didn't they?" Lexie snapped at her sister.

"Please, the whole hospital heard McSteamy here shouting." Christina said nonchalantly.

"Yang." Mark said looking up at here.

"Hey, it's the truth man." She replied nonchalantly.

Callie noticed the daggers Mark was glaring at everyone and quickly spoke.

"How about we leave them alone and come see them after Katie's born?" She said looking at the others.

They all replied and walked out as Mark got up and walked over to Callie.

"Thanks." He said smiling at her.

"No problem. I'm proud of you Mark." Callie said.

"For what? Getting my wife pregnant?" He asked chuckling.

"No, for growing up. I mean you have a wife Mark. You're about to have a daughter. You're an adult. You aren't the same person you were when you first came to Seattle."

"I had the best reason in the world to change." He said glancing at where Lexie was laughing about something with Meredith.

"I should probably go. Congratulations, Daddy." She said grinning and hugging him before leaving.

"Lexie! I am so sorry!" Izzie said running into the room.

"You're dead meat." Lexie said trying to force a grin.

"We'll see. Okay," Izzie walking towards Lexie. "How far apart are your contractions?"

"Five minutes." Lexie replied as Izzie lifted up the drape cloth.

"You're about seven centimeters dilated. You should be ready to push soon." Izzie said.

"I hate you." Meredith said glancing at Lexie. "Brooke was like twenty-four hours."

"Shut up." Lexie said looking at her with a small spread across her red and sweaty face.

…..

"Okay, Lex! I can see her head! One more big push!" Izzie yelled about half an hour later.

"Lexie! She's almost here!" Meredith yelled from beside her.

"Come on baby, just one more." Mark said kissing her forehead.

Lexie let out a scream and soon the sound of an infant wailing filled the room.

Mark looked at his daughter and then kissed Lexie, who had begun to cry. "She's so beautiful." He said kissing her as tears began to run down his cheeks. "We're beautiful. All three of us." He said kissing her again and sitting down beside her.

"Lexie." Meredith said slowly walking towards them with a small pink bundle in her arms. Izzie was close behind. "Wanna meet my niece?" She asked. This was the same exact thing Lexie had done after Brooke was born.

"Yes, I want to meet my daughter." She replied the same way as Meredith had.

She took the small baby in her arms. "Hey, Katie Cat. I'm your Mommy." She said tearfully looking down at her daughter. Katie, who had stopped crying, opened her eyes and Lexie saw her own chocolate brown eyes staring back at her. Lexie began to cry harder.

Mark took his daughter and looked down at her staring back at him. "And I'm your Daddy." He said smiling as she took his finger in her tiny fist. He was amazed at how much she looked like Lexie. "Katherine Susan Sloan, you aren't dating until you're forty." He said looking down at her. She just yawned in reply.

"Mark." Lexie said laughing. "She's like five minutes old. For the next six years she's going to think boys have cooties."

"Yeah, but what about when she stops? She looks just like you. And you got a guy like me." He said smiling down at Katie.

"And if she gets a guy like you, he'll be willing to change for her too." Lexie said smiling and taking her daughter back in her arms.

"She needs her newborn check up." Arizona said walking into the room.

"Robbins. She's perfect. Healthy lungs, ten for ten. And she already opened her eyes, yawned, and grabbed my finger."

"I know. I just need to make sure." She said gently taking the baby. "Hey, baby girl. " She said smiling at the baby. "She does look perfect. She said softly as she walked away.

…

"Thank you." Mark said later that night as the two sat on Lexie's hospital bed eating take out from their favorite restaurant. They had reluctantly agreed to let Katie spend her first night in the hospital nursery.

"Dido." Lexie said laughing. "I think Katie and Brooke are gonna be friends."

"Why do you say that?" Mark asked.

"Well, they're cousins. They're only six months apart. We see Meredith and Derek and go to their house all the time. It's just a feeling."

"Makes sense." Mark said laughing.

"Lexie." Mark said looking up.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"It was worth it." He said referring to everything they had been through over the years.

Lexie paused thinking about how far they'd come since the first time he said it before replying.

"It was.'


	16. Calling All Angels: Epilouge

Thanks to AiLing, mcbitchy28, lucyybella, and driver picks the music for the great reviews.

I alos want to thank everyone who reviewed or read my story. This is my longest fanfic so far and it was really enjoyable. And I can't wait for the new season! Hopefully all of our dreams for these two and the rest of the characters will come true!

This is exactly 15 years after the previous chapter. And you can find pictures of what all of the kids mentioned look like at the ages they are in this, or any age before that on my profile. Oh and Youtube has all the previews for next season! You should definitely check them out!

The song to go with this is Calling All Angels by Train.

I don't own anything.

….

"We're gonna be late." Lexie said glancing at the clock.

"No, we won't. The surgery's almost over. It's what? 6:00? None of the kids had anything after school today. Sloan and Aaron are watching them. Our reservation isn't until 8:30 anyway." Mark said grinning. Sloan was now their babysitter. She had moved back about ten years ago. She was different from how she had been when they had first met her. She had gotten a degree in child psychology and now had a job at Mercy West, which had reopened after the recession ended, where she had met her fiancé, Aaron Stark, who was a trauma counselor and also worked there.

"I know, but it's Katie's fifteenth birthday! It's a big deal! Next year she turns sixteen! I mean we only have a few more birthdays that she'll celebrate as our little girl!" Lexie exclaimed as she and Mark began to close up on the patient.

"Lexie. She's turning fifteen, not thirty. And it will be perfect. We're having dinner at the best restaurant in Seattle. All fourteen of us. Then her four best friends are sleeping over. Besides we have five more kids." He said laughing. They were going out to dinner for Katie's birthday with her best friends, Brooke, Morgan, Sarah, and Jordan; Sloan and Aaron; their thirteen year old son, Braden Marcus Sloan; their ten year old son, Carter Derek Sloan; their four year old twins Grace Isobel Sloan and Lila Meredith Sloan; and their one year old daughter Elizabeth Calliope Sloan.

"Give me your phone." Lexie said the minute they had scrubbed out.

"You need to relax." Mark said beginning to massage her shoulders.

"Mark… I need to call and…. And… Ohhhh…. That feel's good…" She said closing her eyes.

"You're making it sound dirty." Mark said chuckling.

"Massaging is dirty." She replied turning around so that their faces were only inches apart.

"What was it you said about dirty public flirting or was it dirty secret flirting?" He said teasing her.

"That was eighteen years ago. It doesn't count." She replied kissing him. "Now give me your phone." She said taking it out of his back pocket and beginning to dial.

"Hello?" Sloan answered.

"Hey, Sloan. It's me. We just got out of the OR so we should be home in half an hour."

"Okay, do you want me to start getting them ready?" Sloan asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Katie and her friends are probably already getting ready, but just remind the boys and dress the twins and the baby."

"Okay, no problem." Sloan said before hanging up.

….

Half an hour later Mark and Lexie pulled up to their house. They had originally not wanted a large house, just a good size, but with all of their kids, a large house was required.

Their house had three floors.

The first floor contained the garage, kitchen, living room, play room, Mark and Lexie's office, the kids' office, Elizabeth's bedroom and bathroom, and Mark and Lexie's bedroom and bathroom.

The second floor contained what they referred to as the "kids' lounge", Braden's room, Carter's room, Braden and Carter's bathroom, Grace and Lila's room, Grace and Lila's bathroom, as well as the guest bedroom and bathroom, which would be converted into Elizabeth's room when she got older.

And the third floor, which had originally been the attic, had been converted into Katie's bedroom and bathroom after Elizabeth was born.

"We're home!" Mark called as they walked through the door.

"Daddy!" Grace and Lila yelled as they jumped from their chair at the kitchen table.

"Hi, Gracie Belle." He said picking Grace up and tickling her.

"Hey, Lila Bug." He said picking up Lila and tickling her after putting Grace down.

"And hello Ellie Bear." He said taking Elizabeth put of her high chair and kissing the top of her head.

"Is that what you two are wearing to dinner?"Lexie asked laughing as she put her purse on the counter and looked at her twins. They were both dressed in the princess outfits she and Mark had bought them from Disney World when they went there over the summer. Grace was dressed as Cinderella and Lila was dressed as Sleeping Beauty.

"They insisted." Sloan said from the table.

"Mommy, we're princesses!" Grace said looking up at her mother with a determined look on her face. She was definitely the more outspoken of the two.

"Come with me." Lexie said grabbing their hands with a grin on her face.

"Do I even want to know what she's doing?" Aaron asked as he and Sloan began to put away the crayons and coloring books that were splayed across the table.

"Probably not." Mark said as he bounced Elizabeth.

Lexie led the twins to her bathroom. She picked each of them up and put them on the counter. She then opened a drawer and pulled out a container of body glitter that Katie and her friends had used for their matching Halloween costumes.

"Glitter?" Lila asked with a questioning look on her face as Grace's eyes lit up.

"Every princess," Lexie said putting some on Grace and then on Lila, "needs a little sparkle."

They turned to face the mirror and giggled.

"Mommy, you need some." Grace said taking the container and putting some on Lexie's face.

"Thank you, Grace." Lexie said laughing. "Now wanna help me find something to wear?" Lexie asked them. They jumped off of the counter and quickly ran to Lexie's giant walk in closet.

….

Back in the kitchen, Sloan was fastening Elizabeth's sandals as Mark and Aaron were working out rides.

"Okay, so Lexie and I will take the older girls and the baby in the minivan and you and Sloan will take the boys and the twins in your Jeep. I'm going to go tell them we need to go." Mark said before walking towards the stairs.

"Peanut, Pickle. Let's go." Mark said knocking on the door to the kids' "lounge" where his sons were currently playing a video game.

"Okay, Dad. One sec." Braden said before saving the game and turning the TV off.

"Carter, go help your sister put Grace and Lila's car seats in her car." Mark said as his younger son walked by.

"Why doesn't Braden have to do it?" Carter asked looking at Mark.

"He will in a minute. Pickle, please go help."

"Fine." Carter said before stomping off.

"So, I saw you kiss a girl on the cheek when I picked you up from soccer yesterday." Mark said glancing at his son.

"Oh. That was Bridget." Braden said as blush spread across his cheeks.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Mark asked him.

"Dad!" Braden exclaimed. He had no idea about Mark's past. About how he had been before he met Lexie, or about how complicated things between them had been, he only knew about the shooting and that they had been broken up and got back together after it. Katie did because she kept asking questions about it. The only thing she didn't know was about Lexie breaking Mark's penis and he wasn't going to tell her that.

"It was just a question." Mark said chuckling.

"Well, I like her and I was thinking about asking her to the Christmas dance." Braden admitted as he sat down on the bed.

"You should go for it. If you want something you have to go get it, you can't just wait around for it to happen. Do you remember how I told you that your mom and I broke up after we had been together for a year?" Mark said sitting on the bed beside him.

"Yeah." Braden said.

"Well, we both did some stupid stuff after we broke up. If we hadn't, we probably would have gotten back together right away. Anyway, for a long time we tried to convince ourselves and each other that we had moved on. But we both knew we hadn't. And then I cheated on Aunt Teddy, who I was seeing after your mom and I broke up, and it just made it all clear that I had changed how I had been before BECAUSE of her. The funny thing was that we had broken up because I wanted marriage and kids, but she wasn't ready for it and I realized that I only wanted those things with her. Anyway, after I cheated on Aunt Teddy, your mom tried to convince everyone that she didn't care, but she did and everyone could tell. I had been thinking about coming clean to your mom, and when your Aunt Callie said that your mom was still in love with me, I realized that I had to make the first move. After we broke up, we tried to avoid each other. We were playing chicken and swerving off in opposite directions, when we should have just crashed right into each other. And so that night, you know what I told your mom?"

"What?" Braden asked looking at Mark.

"I said, 'Lex, I'm still in love with you. I tried not to be but it didn't work. And Sloan's gone. There's no baby. And I want another chance.' Then she said, 'Karev, he's… Mark, I have boyfriend.' And I just looked into her eyes and said, 'I know. I'm saying you could have a husband.' And walked off. Then the next day was the shooting. And now here we are. Peanut, what I'm saying is you have to be brave enough to make a move. If I hadn't, you might not even exist."

"I'll ask her." Braden said laughing.

"Good. Now go downstairs." Mark said standing up and walking out and climbing the stairs that led to the attic.

"Girls! Time to go!" Mark called as he knocked on the door and entered the room.

All five of the girls were sitting on Katie's bed, wearing dresses and makeup, with their hair done and watching what looked like Friends.

Purses and backpacks were sprawled around Katie's floor as well as an empty bag of chips and several cans of soda.

"Okay, Daddy." Katie said sitting up. At fifteen she was a perfect blend of Mark and Lexie. She had dark brown eyes and medium brown hair that curled like Lexie's did. She also had Lexie's photographic memory and so, unsurprisingly, she had straight A's.

"Hey, Uncle Mark, did my mom call about Allie?" Brooke asked as she got up. Allie was Meredith and Derek's eight year old daughter, Allison Christina Shepherd. She had been admitted to the hospital for an appendectomy early that morning and had gone into surgery around three. Meredith and Derek also had two sons, Christopher William, who was eleven, and Timothy Marcus, who was five.

"Yeah, her surgery went perfectly. Your mom said she will be out of the hospital in a couple of days. She also said not to worry, Chris and Timmy are keeping her company and some of her friends have already called her and are going to visit her."

"That's great." Brooke said as she got up.

"It's not like you were worried." Morgan said getting up, with her auburn curls bouncing as she spoke. She was the definitely the most girly of the five girls. She was always dressed in the latest fashions and hated getting dirty and had to be rushed to someone's house to shower after a soccer game on a muddy field or a cross country meet on a muddy track. She was about ten pounds overweight, but her vibrant personality and fashionable nature made it unnoticeable. She always wore a gold necklace with Morgan written cursive on a small golden pendant in addition to whatever jewelry she was wearing. And the makeup around her green eyes was always perfectly coordinated with her outfit.

"It was surgery." Brooke said, not wanting to admit that she hadn't been worried.

"Have you met your sister? She could get run over by a bus and just pop right back up." Sarah said running her fingers through her light brown, straight hair. She was the quietest of the girls as well as the smartest, most polite, and most responsible. She always wore blue glasses that magnified her practically violet eyes. She was the only one of them taking college level courses, which were usually reserved for juniors and seniors. She was usually quiet, but generally got quite talkative around her best friends.

"You guys think there will be any hot waiters?" Jordan asked as she slid her heels onto her tiny feet. She was the most athletic and tiniest of the five girls. She had pale blond hair with a bright blue streak in it and was usually tied up in a bun or ponytail and bright blue eyes as well as naturally tan skin. She played soccer and ran cross country like the other girls, but she also played softball, volleyball, and was the first sophomore captain of the school swim team. She was just a little over five feet and a little under a hundred pounds. She was tiny and hyper.

"Not in front of my dad!" Katie hissed before as her friends walked out the door. She turned off the lights and then she and Mark followed.

"So, Katie Cat, are you having a good birthday so far?" Mark asked as he put his arm around her.

"Yeah." She said smiling at him before getting a hesitant look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing's wrong, just… Can I go to the movies next weekend?" She asked hesitantly.

"I don't see a problem with that. Who's going?" He asked.

"Oh, you know," She said blushing, "The girls, Sean, Issac, Will, Harrison, and…. Bradley."

"Bradley?" Mark said noticing the tone in her voice when she said his name.

"Please Daddy. It's not even a real date, just a group date." She asked glancing at him.

"Well, okay. And he better not try any funny business." Mark said grinning at her.

"Thanks Daddy!" Katie said excitedly and kissed his cheek before running the rest of the way down the stairs to talk to her friends.

"You made someone happy." Lexie said coming to the foot of the stairs with Elizabeth slowly walking beside her and gripping Lexie's fingers.

"You knew didn't you?" Mark asked knowing the sheepish grin on her face.

"Maybe." She said grinning at him.

Mark leaned in to kiss her when Elizabeth shrieked one of the few words she knew.

"Up!" She said pulling on Mark's pant leg and giving him a stubborn look.

Mark chuckled and picked her up. "You had to ruin a moment, didn't you?" He asked pressing his forehead against hers. She gave him a guilty shrug.

"Mo Mo! Cookie!" She said looking at Lexie. She couldn't say Mommy, so she called Lexie Mo Mo.

"Not right now honey." Lexie said kissing her on the forehead and then giving Mark a long kiss on his lips before heading to the car.

"Dada!" She protested looking at Mark.

"Later Ellie Bear." Mark said laughing and following Lexie. He never thought a one year old could have such a sweet tooth. Then again Elizabeth was a fairly smart one year old, not that it really had anything to do with her taste buds. The words in her vocabulary were "Mo Mo", "Dada", "Cookie", "Up", "Play", "Katie", "Brady", "Car", "Gray", "Lila", and "NO."

…..

Several hours later Lexie entered the living room from Elizabeth's room.

"She finally fell asleep." Lexie said sitting on the couch beside Mark and snuggling into his arms. "I had to rock her, and read her Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, and Cinderella before she even got sleepy."

"She had a long night. Besides she had a five hour nap today. Sloan said she fell asleep at lunch time and didn't wake up until right before we got home."

"I know." Lexie said sighing and then yawning. She put her head against his chest like it was a pillow and closed her eyes.

"Lex, you wanna go to bed?" He asked chuckling.

"I'm good." She muttered.

"Come on." He said laughing as he sat her up and led her to their bedroom.

The minute they walked into the room Lexie climbed into the bed, she had changed into pajamas after dinner, and put her head down on her pillow.

"Mark, hurry up. I'm tired." She whined sleepily.

Mark quickly stripped down to his T-Shirt and boxers and climbed into bed with her.

"Better?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Much." Lexie replied softly before they fell asleep the same way they had nearly every night for the past eighteen years.

In each others arms.


End file.
